Income Contingent Repayment Plan Options

The Department of Education (Department) issues this interim final rule (IFR) to amend the regulations governing income contingent repayment (ICR) plans available to Federal student loan borrowers to make certain that the Department meets its statutory obligation under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, (HEA) to offer borrowers access to an income contingent repayment plan. The scope of this rule is narrow. It just revises the end date for most borrowers to enroll in ICR or Pay as You Earn plans from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027. This time-limited change to eligibility restrictions that went into effect on July 1, 2024, will allow the Department to meet its statutory obligations while it undertakes the necessary administrative changes to make its repayment plans that would otherwise be available for borrowers compliant with the terms of an injunction from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Eighth Circuit).